We Visited A High-tech Chinese Car Factory

Summary

In this podcast episode, Nico and Jack share their fascinating experience of touring a car factory. Initially hesitant, they are soon captivated by the factory's four sections, including the loud molding area, the high-tech welding robots, and the visually stunning painting process. The assembly line, complete with a unique mistake-alert system, adds another layer of interest. The duo reflects on their collaborative project with the Chinese car company Geely, producing a video celebrating the brand's 35th anniversary and sharing behind-the-scenes details. They express their passion for storytelling and invite suggestions for future projects.

Takeaways

• 🚗 Nico and Jack visited a car factory, despite initial hesitations about doing a factory tour.
• 👷‍♂️ The factory was divided into four sections: molding, welding, painting, and assembly.
• 🔊 The molding section was loud and hot, but fascinating to see how car body parts are shaped.
• 🤖 In the welding section, robotic arms performed precise welding tasks, making the process safer and more efficient.
• 🎨 The painting section was unexpectedly impressive, with entire car frames dipped in paint and advanced lighting for workers to perfect the finish.
• 🛠 The assembly section had a conveyor belt system where different teams added parts to the cars; mistakes triggered specific songs to play over the PA system.
• 🔋 There was also a battery shop, as many of the cars produced at the factory were electric.
• 🏭 The factory, located in Taizhou, produces cars for brands like Volvo and Polestar, owned by Geely, China's largest privately-owned car company.
• 🎥 Nico and Jack were working on a special video project for Geely’s 35th anniversary, detailing the company's growth from refrigerator parts to electric vehicles.
• 🌍 Geely has made significant strides in the automotive industry, acquiring iconic brands and positioning itself as a major player in the electric vehicle market.

Q & A

What was the factory tour discussed in the podcast?

The factory tour was at a car factory, which had four main sections: molding, welding, painting, and assembly.

Why didn't the hosts want to do a factory tour initially?

They were not particularly interested in factory tours as it wasn’t something they were focused on. However, their minds changed after the experience.

What made the welding section of the factory unique?

The welding section used advanced robotic arms to perform precise work that would be too difficult or dangerous for humans.

Why did the hosts find the painting section surprisingly interesting?

The painting section involved dipping entire car frames in paint, which they found visually striking and compared it to scenes from action movies like 'The Terminator.' The lighting in the section was also very impressive.

What was the process in the assembly hall?

In the assembly hall, parts of the cars were put together in a conveyor belt system where different workers added various components to the vehicles.

What was the purpose of the special suits the hosts had to wear during the painting process?

The special suits were designed to prevent any fluff or debris from contaminating the paint job on the cars.

What happened when mistakes occurred on the assembly line?

Whenever a mistake happened, the conveyor belt stopped, and a loud song associated with the person or team who made the mistake would play, which helped identify where the error occurred.

Which brands of cars were being produced at the factory?

The factory produced cars for the brands Volvo and Polestar, both of which are owned by Geely, a major Chinese car company.

What was the significance of the factory visit for the project the hosts were working on?

The hosts were working on a video for Geely’s 35th anniversary, documenting the company's rise from a refrigerator parts manufacturer to a leader in electric vehicle production.

How did the collaboration with Geely influence the video project?

The collaboration was very collaborative, with Geely giving the hosts creative freedom while adding their own input. The project allowed the hosts to tell an engaging story that aligned with both Geely’s brand and their own vision.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Intro and Overview of the Factory Tour

The hosts, Nico and Jack, introduce themselves and discuss their initial reluctance to do a factory tour. Despite their hesitations, the experience changed their perspective, and they found the visit to a car factory fascinating. They explain the filming conditions, including a windy day at their chosen location, and tease the audience with a surprise announcement for later in the video. They also reveal the factory they visited was a car factory and proceed to describe the factory's layout.

05:00

🔩 Exploring the Factory: Molding and Welding Sections

Nico and Jack recount their experience in the first section of the factory, where car body parts are molded. They mention the extreme heat and noise but express amazement at how the process worked. The second section, focused on welding, was more appealing, featuring robotic arms that performed precise and intricate welding tasks. The duo marvels at the advanced technology and how robots are better suited for such precise work. This section leaves them both highly impressed.

10:01

🎨 Painting and the Immersive Car Dipping Process

The next stop in the factory is the painting section, which unexpectedly became one of their favorite parts of the tour. Initially, they were skeptical about the excitement of this process, but after wearing special suits to avoid contaminating the paint, they were blown away by how cinematic it felt. They watched cars being dipped in paint, which reminded them of movie scenes from 'The Terminator' and 'James Bond.' The lighting and environment were so impressive that they even envisioned filming a music video there.

15:03

🔧 Assembly Line and Factory Music Quirks

Nico and Jack move to the final part of the factory—the assembly hall. They compare the experience to Ikea due to the organization and the way car parts come together on a conveyor belt system. They highlight a quirky factory tradition where specific songs play whenever a mistake is made, making it clear which worker caused the issue. Despite these disruptions, the assembly line's high-tech operations are impressive. They also mention the factory's focus on electric cars and note that it produces Volvo and Polestar models.

🏭 The High-Tech Factory and the Geely Company Story

Nico and Jack provide more context about the factory, which belongs to the Geely group—a major Chinese car manufacturer. They explain that Geely owns Volvo and Polestar and has been shifting towards producing electric vehicles. They also share that they were working on a documentary about Geely’s 35th anniversary, tracing the company's growth from refrigerator parts manufacturing to electric cars. They tease the documentary, encouraging viewers to watch it on Geely's channel.

📽 Behind the Scenes of the Geely Video Project

The duo shares insights into the making of their Geely video project, detailing the challenges of creating the documentary within a tight timeframe. They discuss the extensive preparation, including research, scripting, and location scouting. They reflect on the collaborative nature of the project, with Geely providing input while allowing them creative freedom. They express pride in the final product and invite viewers to reach out with other interesting story ideas.

👨‍💻 Editing, Animation, and Final Touches

In this section, they delve into the post-production process. Jack worked long hours editing, while Nico created animations that matched the historical timeline of the company. They mention how small details, like color schemes in the animation, were carefully crafted to enhance the storytelling. They express their satisfaction with how everything came together, emphasizing the amount of work behind the scenes that goes unnoticed by viewers.

🌬 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts on the Factory Experience

The video concludes with Nico and Jack reflecting on their factory tour experience, mentioning additional interviews they conducted with Geely employees, including one who had been with the company for 25 years. They discuss the intense workdays involved in filming and editing the project but express their excitement about the final product. They invite viewers to engage with them by leaving comments or suggestions and encourage them to check out Geely’s video. The episode ends as they acknowledge the windy filming conditions and thank the audience for watching.

Keywords

💡Factory Tour

A central theme of the video, the factory tour refers to the experience of visiting a car manufacturing facility. It’s mentioned multiple times as something initially not considered interesting but later becomes a highlight of the video, showing the transformation of car parts through various stages of production.

💡Car Manufacturing

Car manufacturing is the primary activity explored in the factory tour, detailing the different sections involved in building a car, from molding and welding to painting and assembly. It forms the backbone of the entire video narrative, showcasing the intricacies of modern car production.

💡Molding Section

The molding section is the first stage of the car manufacturing process mentioned in the video. It involves stamping the shape of the car body parts, which is described as very loud and hot. This section emphasizes the industrial environment and the labor-intensive nature of the production process.

💡Welding Section

The welding section, another key part of the factory, is where robotic arms weld the car components together. This part of the tour stands out due to the advanced technology used, with the robots performing precise tasks that would be too difficult or dangerous for humans.

💡Painting Section

The painting section involves coating the car frames in paint, starting with a dramatic scene where cars are dipped into paint, reminiscent of movie special effects. The section surprises the tour guides with its visual appeal, contributing to the overall high-tech, futuristic feel of the factory.

💡Assembly Hall

The assembly hall is where all the car parts come together on a long conveyor belt. Described as similar to IKEA, it plays a critical role in finalizing the car construction, highlighting the collaborative effort between teams to ensure the vehicles are completed properly.

💡Robotic Arms

The robotic arms in the welding section are a key technological feature in the factory. These robots are responsible for performing the precise and often dangerous welding tasks, underscoring the increasing automation in car manufacturing and the safety benefits it provides for human workers.

💡Electric Cars

Electric cars are a significant focus of the factory, as many of the cars being produced are electric models like Volvo and Polestar. The video highlights the shift toward electric vehicles, reflecting the growing global trend towards sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation.

💡Geely

Geely is the Chinese car company behind the factory tour, known for producing electric vehicles and owning brands like Volvo and Polestar. The video centers around Geely’s 35th anniversary and their impressive rise from making refrigerator parts to leading the electric vehicle industry.

💡Collaborative Project

The collaborative project refers to the video production partnership between the YouTubers and Geely. It emphasizes the creative and professional process behind making a documentary-style video, involving scriptwriting, location scouting, and working closely with the company to tell their story in an engaging way.

Highlights

Introduction to the podcast about their factory tour experience.

Initial hesitation from the hosts about doing a factory tour, but they were impressed by the end.

The factory they visited was a car factory with four different sections.

The first section was a mold section where car body parts were stamped, which was loud and hot.

The second section was the welding area, featuring advanced robotic arms that did precise welding.

The hosts were impressed by the robotic arms, commenting on how precise and advanced the technology was.

The third section involved painting the car frames, which was more exciting than expected.

The hosts compared the paint dipping process to scenes from movies like Terminator and James Bond.

They described the painting area as photogenic and perfect for filming, even imagining music video concepts.

In the assembly hall, they saw how different parts of the car were put together on a conveyor belt.

Each time someone made a mistake on the assembly line, a song played, and Celine Dion’s song was a frequent choice.

The factory focuses on producing electric cars, including Volvo and Polestar models.

The hosts were working on a 35th anniversary video for Geely, China's biggest privately-owned car company.

They discussed the growth of Geely, from manufacturing refrigerator parts to electric cars, in 35 years.

The factory visit gave the hosts ideas for their future creative projects, highlighting the collaborative nature of the video work.

Transcripts

so

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so

so

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wow that was a nice little intro there

jack what an experience that was it

certainly was and if you haven't guessed

already that's what we're going to talk

about today in our podcast so hello

everyone i'm nico and i'm jack and we're

going to talk about a little factory

tour that we did now i had a few

comments on some videos saying we should

do a factory tour we should do a factory

tour and to be honest i really didn't

really want to do a factory tour no it's

not something we've ever been like that

focused on i guess but no but this

changed my mind yeah this certainly

changed my mind too it was really really

interesting and we decided to come here

which looks a little bit like a factory

to record this video to do it but i'm

sorry if

we get a bit wind blown it's a very very

blustery day today yeah that's the thing

we actually got loads of cool shots from

this factory experience but you're

probably wondering why are we not

filming there why are we not talking to

you from the factory yes wow we have a

little surprise which we're gonna tell

you later so stay tuned for that stay

tuned for that so you're probably

wondering what sort of factory it was

well drumroll please

it was a car factory anyway the factory

was really really interesting it was

quite big and it had like four different

sections yeah four different sections

the first section was like a mold

section where they like stamped the

shape of the car

or the shape of the like bits the body

parts

yeah and it was so loud like i couldn't

even think that it was really hot and

really loud but it was really really

cool to see how it changed the different

sections and how the like body parts

went in and out but

yeah it was a bit loud people who were

working in there looked super super

relaxed but i could not wait to get out

of that section yeah i wasn't so keen on

that section to be honest it was a

little bit um

loud for me but the second section

was

welding right

yeah that was welding and that was super

interesting so cool

like it was again quite hot in there i

don't know how the people who work there

survive in the summer because it was

like

well i think a lot of the workers who

work in that section in the welding

section they don't mind the heat too

much do they that's because they're not

actually human

i was like what do you mean ah yes of

course yes there was lots of robotic

arms there which is so cool i've never

seen anything like that before have you

no i've not never seen anything like

that i've been to some other factories

in china but i've never seen something

with so such like advanced robots doing

a lot of the like precise welding work

and i think it's just simply too precise

for a human hand to do too hot and it's

probably a lot safer for a robot to do

something i would love to learn more

about to be honest it was so cool like i

honestly was so shocked at how

interesting it was and how amazing these

robot arms were and like yeah super cool

it was so cool i really really like that

section and there was lots of different

layers we went up high and you could see

all the bits being made and it was

really interesting yeah so cool um then

we went to the next section which was

painting

now

i didn't think this was going to be very

interesting at all i wasn't too bothered

really and they made us put on so well

in the first part of the factory we had

to put on some special suits right but

in the painting section they made us put

on like special spoiler suits yeah like

ghostbusters or something yeah like

because obviously they don't want any

like fluff getting in the paint and

wrecking it so i was like oh it seems

like a lot of effort i'm not sure i'm

not bothered about this and then we went

in and it was so cool it was the best

section i was amazed at how cool it was

like the first thing we saw which i

thought was just literally gonna be it

was they like dipped the whole car frame

in paint and pulled it back up it was

like something from the terminator yeah

i guess that was like the undercoat or

something for it and yeah it was so epic

a little bit scary actually i couldn't

think

yeah it reminded me of like james bond

or something someone being like lowered

into a tank of acid or something but it

was so cool it was so cool and i thought

that was just gonna be it i was like oh

okay that was it and then they like took

us through into these like tunnels like

these paint tunnels

and the cars go on these conveyor belts

and then each person have their own has

their own section but in this painting

section it was done under these like

really sick lights yeah it reminded me

of like batman or something like just a

really like yeah epic lights so the

lighting was lovely we got some epic

gimbal shots of just like workers like

buffing it and just really making sure i

guess that's why the light was so good

as they really wanted to make sure that

the

cars were just like perfectly clean and

like yeah it was really really cool like

i just couldn't believe how actually

photogenic it looked for one yeah like i

felt like yeah without like i was in

some sort of movie it would be such a

cool place for music video

yeah

and it gave us a lot of ideas for when

we're older and we can when we're older

when we're

richer when we're richer and we're

richer not even older because when we're

richer and we have our own studio and

you can fill the studio with these cool

um

led panels just like yeah

would be epic so here's some pictures

took a few pictures

um and then finally after we left there

there was the assembly room yeah

yeah like the assembly hall hall now the

assembly hall actually was was

was a bit different to what i thought it

was going to be half of it i felt like a

bit like ikea

yeah it didn't have like serious ikea

vibes didn't it it's just like lots of

pieces of like cars stored and this is

the bit where they put it all together

so yeah there was this like massive long

conveyor belt and basically there's all

these teams

and along the conveyor belt like each

person puts a different part on the car

or it a different part

and it just all starts coming together

all these different parts that we saw

and it was really epic it was really

really cool although something slightly

weird about the conveyor belt section

was that basically every time there's a

mistake

if someone like basically up

they stop the conveyor belt and then

they play a song like a really loud song

which was not ideal for us because we

were actually filming some speaking

parts for this other project that we

were working on which we'll tell you

about later but yeah the song that they

play is like each team has their own

song or each

i'm not sure if it was each team or each

person has picked a song so they know

that that's the bit that's

kind of not they know who's made the

mistake because their song comes on over

the pa it was good so someone whoever

chose celine dion kept making mistakes

because celine dion kept coming on the

construction line starts they play this

awful music really loud and then once

once um yeah once they

fix a mistake i guess it starts up again

it was brilliant

i don't know the words so like overall

the factory was just like incredibly

high tech like they

had a huge battery shop which i think we

forgot to mention which was one of the

other stages yeah i i think i missed

that bit because i was a little bit

tired by this point it'd been about four

days of shooting until then yeah

understandably but obviously batteries

are a big part of the cars they make

there because actually a lot of the cars

they're making there are electric yeah

um because the brand that we were

working with um which was

julie julie and i'm sure a lot of you

are aware of gd they're china's biggest

privately owned car company i don't know

if you know us from what we were wearing

whilst we were showing you obviously we

had volvo volvo suits on because they

own volvo yep so volvo is one of the

brands they're making at this factory

it's actually like a volvo factory and

they're also making pole star there as

well yeah which is another one of their

brands which i think is totally electric

as well so

they're as a company they're basically

going

full gas no gas not full gas they're not

going full gas they're going fast at all

full steam

they're going full electric that's the

plan full full buzz

yeah they're fully buzzing towards an

electric future which is super

interesting to see actually because um

we've never like really had much

experience of electric cars or anything

like that before but

super cool learning more about that yeah

it was really really interesting

experience and the the factory itself

was down in taijo so we went there and

we also went to the gd headquarters

which were in hongzhou and the reason

that we did that this is we actually are

making a video for julie about their

35th anniversary because this year is

our 35th anniversary and we've basically

done

a life story of the yes so basically

what we've been working on for the last

few months is like um a video that's

just charting their rise from their very

start it was started by a guy called lee

shufu eric lee yeah um super interesting

story such an interesting story i don't

want to

tell you all the details now because i

don't want to spoil the video no will

this video be out on our channel this

video will not be out on our channel

this video will be out on their channel

so i'm going to link it up here so you

guys can go and have a watch and leave a

comment and you know tell us what you

think you know this was a really big

project to us we spent a lot of time and

a lot of effort and we're going to go

into that in a second making it the

video that it is and we are really proud

of it yeah i'm so proud of it

i think it's come together really nicely

i have a question for you if you are a

young entrepreneur looking to start a

car company in a country that doesn't

exactly have the rich's automotive

history how would you get people to take

you seriously

well in the case of julie a company

which under the watchful eye of its

visionary leader went from manufacturing

refrigerator parts to producing some of

the most anticipated new energy vehicles

of the present day

in just 35 years

it certainly helps if you casually add

one of europe's most iconic luxury car

brands to your ever-growing portfolio

win the world touring car championship

three years in a row

and set your sights far beyond the

confines of this rock we call home

[Music]

so to make a video like this is no small

feat like we have been working on this

for

months and we actually had to do it in

quite a short turnaround so it took a

lot of mental energy a lot of physical

energy um but it was really great

learning experience it was really great

fun and it was just

just a really exciting project for us to

work on yeah and julie were an awesome

company to work work with i mean they

were like it was super collaborative and

like they genuinely have a really cool

story and when you check out this video

you'll you'll see more about the story

for yourself and

you know as a company they're incredibly

young and i mean they've only really

started making cars in the late 90s and

as you'll see in that video it wasn't a

very straightforward process the

bodywork was leaky and the footwells

flooded in the rain

eric's solution was simple if not a

little barbaric he hired a road roller

and crushed them all surely this was the

end of his ill-fated car experiments but

i think that's what's quite exciting

about the chinese kind of car scene in

general yeah is that

although there's kind of you know we're

europeans we're familiar with all these

big old brands even brands like volvo or

mercedes uh volkswagen but as kind of

the car industry is changing so much as

as everything's going electric it's kind

of a chance for these chinese brands to

kind of

jump ahead i guess

yeah it was just super interesting to

learn about something that we are maybe

not quite as familiar with and really

put a heart and soul into it so

like jack said it was a super

collaborative project which is what we

like the most you know we want to

work with a brand that wants to

work with us because of our vision but

they have some things that they want of

our their own and

we you know every step of the way they

were there we we wrote the script we did

a lot of research

but you know they had bits they wanted

to add but they really gave us creative

freedom which was awesome so we made

sure that like it was going to fit in

with the brand but also was you know a

little bit of us yeah and it's totally

the kind of story that we we enjoy

telling that we want to tell yeah um and

so like if you guys know of any other

kind of interesting stories yeah

interesting brands that would be worth

approaching and working with we'd love

to kind of hear from you on that because

yeah this is what we do you know

unfortunately for us youtube is not our

full-time job we have to hustle a lot on

the side making all kinds of videos but

this is our passion you know we want to

make more storytelling videos so if you

know anyone hit us up in the comments

reach out let us know because

you know we want to tell these stories

now we started off like we said you know

we made a script um we

we thought of locations we did loads of

research you know it wasn't a simple

process i think people just think that

when you make a video you just go out

and shoot and that's it but it was

so much more than well that's what we

did today and that's why we stood in a

car park getting blown around by the

wind because

we had to kind of you know hustle and

brush and get the video out well we only

have a few days we only have a few days

that we can actually film which is

because i work but anyway um

so we researched we made shot lists we

looked for locations we

made mood boards

honestly so much work went into this

project and that was before we even

started filming we were there for about

four days

four or five days

we filmed in various locations around

had to get the shot

we did some very interesting shots

here's a photograph of one of them um

and you know just to help tell the story

so it was we did interviews with people

as well we interviewed

one of their employees who's been there

for 25 years who was their 16th ever

employee which was really awesome yeah

we all interviewed um two other people

as well three three interviews we put

into that factory like we interviewed

the factory manager who'd come all the

way from sweden and is now working in

china like overseeing one of volvo's big

factories and i mean then put it all

together jack worked on it literally

night and day for a couple of weeks

15 16 hours a day editing but we managed

to put it all together nico as well made

some awesome animations so

well you designed some really awesome

animations that we then put together and

animated which were really cool that was

exciting like each section of animation

was basically based on the colour scheme

of each period of time that we were

telling so it kind of progressed over

time and the animation changed with the

story to hopefully tell it i mean

they're small details i'm sure a lot of

people probably won't notice them but

they're important to us yeah and that's

that's kind of the ethos we like to take

into our kind of video making yeah so we

thought we'd make this video because we

had loads of extra shots wanted to talk

about the factory a little bit more i

know that it's super interesting

obviously in that video we don't

specifically talk about the factory but

we just thought we'd share some more

shots with you and we thought you might

be interested in learning a bit of the

behind the scenes that go into making

some of these videos that we make yeah

so if you are interested in more videos

like this about videos or behind the

scenes or you have any questions then or

suggestions or suggestions yeah exactly

leave us a comment and i think we're

gonna wrap this up because we're about

to get blown away

so windy right now don't forget to like

this video subscribe and we'll see you

next time and go say hi to julie go drop

a comment on their video um and yeah

leave us some feedback thanks for

watching guys bye